Brown: Still waiting for GOP offer in writing

JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press

With budget talks at an apparent standstill, Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday he still does not know exactly what Republican lawmakers want in exchange for their votes to support his proposed special election to extend recent tax increases.

Brown was meeting again with some Republican legislators in talks he said were producing "positive vibes," as time runs out for him to strike a budget deal.

The Democratic governor needs at least two GOP votes in each house of the Legislature to approve his plan for a ballot measure asking Californians to extend temporary increases in the sales, personal income and vehicle taxes that were enacted two years ago. The governor also is seeking about $12.5 billion in spending cuts to address the state's $26.6 billion deficit.

"We're still waiting for what I might call a term sheet. What's the bedrock of what the Republicans need to put this before the people?" Brown told reporters outside the state Capitol, where he attended an event celebrating the state's agriculture.

"They've given me some ideas, and some of them feel they're more comprehensive than I do. So I want to get more precise. What does it take to get Republican votes?" he said.

Brown was hoping to get the tax extensions on the ballot before the measures expire in July, but time is running out. The Legislature's ultimate deadline for calling a June special election is unclear because it can rewrite state law to suit its purpose, but several county clerks told The Associated Press they would need at least 88 days to prepare for an election. That would make June 21 the earliest an election could be held.

Republican leaders in the Assembly and Senate and a group of five GOP senators who have met with Brown have identified several reforms, including a state spending cap, pension reform and reducing regulations on businesses. But Republicans have not made their specific demands public and have yet to release an alternative budget solution.

"The reforms we are calling for are the same reforms we've been calling for for years - getting spending in check, spending cap, pension reform and job creation," said Sabrina Lockhart, a spokeswoman for Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare.

Lockhart ruled out an agreement to extend the tax hikes in exchange for any of the reforms Assembly Republicans are seeking. In response to Brown's claim that he has not seen the demands in writing, she said the issues are longstanding.

"We've carried legislation on all of these issues for years, and our ideas have been out there and have been flatly rejected because it's not palatable to public sector unions," Lockhart said. "We've talked to him about what we wanted, but it always pivots back to taxes. Taxes are not an option."

Representatives of Senate Minority Leader Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, and the five GOP senators who have been negotiating with Brown did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Brown said discussions about pension reform were ongoing and that the two sides were using a recent report by the Little Hoover Commission, an independent state auditing agency, as a starting point. The commission's recommendations that the state freeze pensions for current state workers and switch to a hybrid model that would include something like the 401(k) plans offered to most private-sector employees angered public employee unions.

Brown also was asked Wednesday if he is considering other options, such as qualifying an initiative for a special election in November, if he cannot reach a budget deal with Republicans. He said people are talking to him about such ideas, but he is still focused on trying to get a deal to put the taxes before voters this summer.